The Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants continue an important National League weekend series at AT&T Park Saturday night

Milwaukee Brewers at San Francisco Giants

Milwaukee isn’t the prettiest team when it comes to playing on the road, but the squad opened up a crucial three-game series with San Francisco with a 4-2 win last night at AT&T Park.  The Brewers are 21-33 overall away from Miller Park, but have won five of their last seven road games.  The win also pushed its record to above .500 on its longest road trip of the season.  “We’re trying to become a new team in the second half, especially on the road,” said Brewers closer John Axford.  “This is a good way to kick it off.”  Axford has played a huge role in the team’s success this season and captured his 24th straight save Friday night.  Milwaukee is 26-18 when playing against winning teams this year and 44-35 versus right-handed starters.

Brewers starting pitcher Randy Wolf enters with a 6-7 record and 3.58 ERA in 20 starts this season and is coming off a 3-0 loss in Arizona last time out.  The game served as the fifth time this year that Milwaukee was shutout in a game that he started.  Overall, the club is 10-10 in his outings, as he has tallied 13 quality starts.  Wolf will be toeing the rubber for the 12th time on the road, bringing in a 3-5 mark and 3.61 ERA, as he’s surrendered eight home runs in 67 1/3 innings.  In 19 career starts versus the Giants, the veteran is 9-5 with a 2.77 ERA.

San Francisco still maintains a comfortable four games advantage in the NL West standings, but has dropped two consecutive contests due to an offensive that has mustered up just two runs in that span.  The Giants entered the toughest portion of their schedule last night and will play 18 consecutive games against teams currently in contention for the playoffs.  The club will rely heavily on a pitching staff that leads all of the majors with a 3.12 ERA and opponents batting average of .228.  San Francisco is 42-23 at night this season and 18-8 when facing left-handed starters.

Giants starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong is 7-1 with a 2.02 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) this year and has won four straight decisions.  He picked up a victory in his last start versus the Dodgers at AT&T Park, tossing 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, while walking just a single batter and striking out five.  The right-hander has tallied an impressive 4-1 record and 1.08 ERA in nine home outings (eight starts), limiting opponents to a .214 average.  In 10 career appearances (five starts) versus the Brewers, Vogelsong has tallied a losing 1-3 record and 6.98 ERA, giving up 36 hits and issuing 13 walks in 29 2/3 frames.

Bettors will likely back the Brewers due to their 10-1 mark on Saturdays, while the Giants are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings in San Francisco